On July 4th I commemorated the day the best way I knew how– shooting at the range with a couple of buddies. I recently acquired a beautiful Remington 788 .358 custom rifle and had yet to take it out, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity. Also, I hadn’t tried out the Gordon 20-60 x 60 spotting scope that I got at Harbor Freight, so I took that along, too.

If you enjoy target shooting, you know what a hassle it is to stop after every few rounds and schlepp to the target to see how you did—so, a spotting scope is definitely a good thing to have. But then go online and you see the suckers can run as high as $2,500 (for that, it better make me breakfast)! I knew Harbor Freight had a spotting scope for $50 when I started shopping, but I was firm in the belief that, when it came to optics, “if it’s good, it’s expensive,” so I quickly dismissed it. Then my friend, Paul (a retired marine, far more experienced than me at target shooting), told me to go for the Gordon model. The magnification range, he said, was perfect, and it didn’t make sense to spend more for the kind of practice we were doing. He’d never steered me wrong before, so I went for it.

It turned out to be a great morning. Zeroed at 100 yards, the rifle shot like a dream, grouped slightly under 1-1/2” (so, I won’t be on Top Shot anytime soon), and the recoil was mercifully mild. We ended up shooting for about 5 hours (a LEO buddy brought his MP-5… but that’s another story), got so stoked we planned a pig hunting trip, and the Gordon 20-60 x 60mm spotting scope performed wonderfully; clear and sharp. So, at least for the time being, I’ve got no need to spend any more; save that for the ammo. It’ll also be a good companion on backcountry hunts.

If you don’t like to shoot, but do like to watch, the spotting scope’s also excellent for bird & wildlife watching, sightseeing vista spots or sports & music events.